Page 12 - AsianOil Week 44 2022

AsianOil SOUTHEAST ASIA AsianOil

Indonesia awards two blocks

to Conrad Asia Energy

POLICY INDONESIA has awarded rights to two oil and decade. But so far efforts have been disappoint-
gas exploration blocks off the coast of north ing. The country’s output was 610,000 bpd in the
They are the first Sumatra to Conrad Asia Energy on November first nine months of this year, versus a target of
awards of the year. 8, a senior energy ministry official was quoted 703,000 bpd.
as saying by Reuters. This marks the first oil Indonesia’s role as an LNG supplier has also
and gas awards that the country has made this diminished over the years. In 1990, it was the
year. world’s top LNG exporter, but it had dropped
The two blocks contain 2.2bn barrels of oil to eighth place as of 2021. Its gas production
and 13.4 trillion cubic feet (379bn cubic metres) amounted to 59.3 bcm last year, versus 82.7 bcm
of gas in total estimated resources. Conrad has in 2011.
committed to a geological and geophysical sur- The latest blocks to be awarded were among
vey, 3D seismic acquisition and the drilling of five that Indonesia offered up in tenders that
an exploration well within a three-year period. were launched in July. Authorities are still
This will see a combined investment of $30mn, reviewing the bids for the remaining three. Indo-
said the ministry's director-general of oil and gas, nesia also kicked off a fresh bidding round for
Tutuka Ariadji. two more blocks on November 8 under a direct
A former member of OPEC, Indonesia offer process. Those were the Jabung Tengah area
switched to being a net importer of oil in the on Sumatra Island, with an estimated 200mn
early 2000s as a result of declining production. barrels in oil resources, and the Paus block in
But it is hoping to reverse this trend and grow the offshore East Natuna Sea, with some 2.5 tcf
output to 1mn barrels per day by the end of the of gas. ™
CENTRAL ASIA

India’s MEIL receives LOA to build

Mongolia’s first oil refinery

PROJECTS & INDIA’S Megha Engineering & Infrastructures government-to-government (G2G) project.
COMPANIES Limited (MEIL) has received the letter of award According to MEIL's spokesperson: "This
(LOA) for the Mongol Refinery Project, which downstream project is of enormous importance
The refinery is to have entails building Mongolia's first oil refinery to and marks a critical turning point in the relation-
a capacity of 30,000 help lessen the country’s dependency on fuel ship between India and Mongolia and in MEIL's
barrels per day. imports from Russia, the company said in a expansion strategy in the hydrocarbons sector.
November 3 press release. In addition, the project will bring economic
MEIL said that on a greenfield site it would prosperity and energy independence to Mon-
“build EPC-2 (Open Art Units, Utilities & golia." ™
Offsites, Plant Buildings) and EPC-3 (Captive
Power Plants) at a cost of USD 790 million using
advanced technology in Mongolia”.
The refinery is to have a capacity of 30,000
barrels of crude oil per day or 1.5mn tonnes
annually. It will help Mongolia meet its needs for
petroleum products including gasoline, diesel,
aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The project is part of the Development Part-
nership Administration initiative of the Indian
Ministry of External Affairs. It will be built using
a line of credit from the government India.
Engineers India Limited (EIL) is the pro-
ject management consultant (PMC) for this

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 08•November•2022